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View Full Version : Bottom paint removal?



PachMan
04-08-2001, 09:26 PM
What is the best way to remove bottom paint without disturbing the gel coat underneath? I do not want to reapply bottom paint after the removal, just have the gel coat bottom.

Forrest
04-09-2001, 11:06 AM
Yea, I wan't to know the answer to that one, too. Castrol Power Clean (or equivalent) will remove a good portion of it, but it takes a lot of scrubbing and reapplication. Also, I have had some luck with oven cleaner, but it too seem to have it limits. Someone on another thread suggested using a heavy-duty oven cleaner from an industral supply house. I havn't tried that yet, but it sounds like it may work. I never had any luck with stuff like PealAway and other paint remover products on bottom paint. paint remover products seem to work well on hard paint coatings and do very little on soft bottom coatings. I have also heard of hydro-sandblasting that's done by some boat yards. I'm not exactly sure how that process works and what kind of damage, if any, it does to the gel coat. Good luck. I have a brand-X center-console that needs to have the bottom paint removed, and for that reason, I would like to know as well.

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Forrest

DonziDave
04-09-2001, 01:10 PM
Keep in mind that usually the gel coat is heavy sanded to get good bonding of the bottom paint. So even after removal, the hull is probably going to need extensive restoration.

PaulO
04-09-2001, 01:13 PM
I just got the cigarette back from the blaster. They blast the paint off with platic media of some sort. Doesn't touch the gel coat unless the operator stays too long in one spot ( they should know better and it wasn't an issue with mine). If the bottom was sanded prior to painting, you have bigger problems like a lot of sanding to do. There is a staining that is left after the media blasting from the pigment that soaked into the gel coat so, afterwards you need to compound the bottom ( no fun on your back). The shop I found charged me $200 and I delivered the boat on the trailer.
PaulO

blue-z
04-09-2001, 01:17 PM
Originally posted by DonziDave:
Keep in mind that usually the gel coat is heavy sanded to get good bonding of the bottom paint. So even after removal, the hull is probably going to need extensive restoration.

I would not allow anyone to do any blasting especially in such a critical area. Whatever safe method is used to remove most of the paint, final work could involve wet sanding and buffing. Quite a huge job and bad spot to be doing upside down. I wet sanded my hull with 1500 wet paper and finish compounded it (3M products) and attained wonderful results with a quite dull boat, scratches etc. Good Luck.